Applying Computational Thinking to a Public

Administration Course

Dr. Bruce Neubauer

Drawings by Larry Turner of Chattanooga, TN

What is Computational Thinking?

“Computational thinking involves solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science. Computational thinking includes a range of mental tools that reflect the breadth of the field of computer science.”

Communications of the ACM, March 2006

Dr. Jeannette WingSource: Columbia University

What is Computational Thinking?

“As technology advances, so must the ways in which we are taught to interact with it. And these new skills should be taught in schools.”

“Computational thinking should be something you routinely use as a part of any subject your study.”

Harvard EdCast, March 22, 2018

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/18/03/harvard-edcast-teaching-computational-literacy

Dr. Stephen WolframChief Designer of Mathematica

Computational Thinking

An approach to problem solving that involves

• Decomposition

• Abstraction

• Pattern recognition

• Creation of algorithms

Source: Greher & Heines, 2014

Problem solving and design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NGaUZcT9Lw

Modern software are the design marvels of the world in the information age.

Source: Pexels.com

Study of Public Administration

An academic field that involves the following competencies . . .

• Leading and managing in public governance

• Contributing to public policy-making

•Problem solving and decision making

• Applying a public service perspective

• Interacting with a diverse citizenry and workforce

Instructional Intent:

Can the interactions of people in organizations be understood and anticipated based on their respective roles and their personality types?

Can students become better administrators by approaching leadership through application of major aspects of computational thinking?

Source: Pexels.com

Jung’s Theory of Personality (briefly)People have personalities that are shaped by our preferences for perceiving the world and for processing what we have perceived.

We each either prefer to sense details in our environments, or to use intuition to experience our environment.

We each either prefer to feel the personal aspects of what we perceive or to think about what we perceive.

Source:Wikipedia

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vucrU6GvGa0

Translation of the “donut” model of software objects into Jung’s personality theory

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/guestc990b6/software-engineering-the-multiview-approach-and-wisdm

If objects, why not personalities?

abc

So, my goal was to encourage my students to “read” others (as administrators) in order to be able to anticipate the consequences of situations and to construct reasonable SCENARIOS based upon the personalities of people framed within an ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.

I tried to do this applying aspects of COMPUTATIONAL THINKING.

Here is the result . . .

I think my students applied reasoning rather than computation to the questions I asked. I think they worked from descriptions of types rather than from an algorithmic perspective.

While that was not the intent of the assignment, I cannot fault my students for applying reasoning rather than computation to what I asked of them.

Another part of series of assignments . . .

Part of a student’s response to Assignment 4

Source: Amazon.com

I see evidence that this student understood the assignment and approached it using computational thinking rather than reason.

She created a conversation in which the participants demonstrated their specified personality types and organizational roles.

I believe that as an administrator this ability may help her understand and anticipate the behaviors of others.

As a result, she may become better able to lead and manage in public governance, and she may become more effective as a problem solver and decision maker.

References

Campbell, J. (1991). The power of myth. New York: Anchor.

Greher, G. R. & Heines, J. M. (2014). Computational thinking in sound: Teaching the art and science of music and technology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kearns, M. J. & Fazirani, U. (1994). An introduction to computational learning theory. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Lubia, A., McCubbions, M. D. & Popkin, S. L. eds (2000). Elements of reason: Cognition, choice, and the bounds of rationality. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Vee, A. (2017). Coding literacy: How computer programming is changing writing. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Wing, J. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM 49(3).